A DHIR MUST READ! –             

While reading this, grab your doe’s ADGA certificates and your last set of doe sheets or computer printout from your processing center.  Once you have those, go through the following checklist for each of your does on test.  Think of it as DHIR Spring cleaning!

 

Find the section for your doe information which includes the sire and dam.

1. Make sure that the breed is correct for your doe.  X for a breed means mixed/not recognized, not Experimental.  N is only for Nubian, not for Nigerian, which should be D.  Grades should be coded as the breed they are listed as, not Experimental or Unknown.
2. Make sure you don’t include A for American or P for Purebred, it isn’t needed, just the one letter breed code.
3. Once you verify that your doe’s breed is fine, make sure they are also correct for the dam and sire.

Now, take a look at the ID number for your doe.

1. It should be only numbers.  If there is a breed letter, or herdbook letter included as well, it is almost always incorrect.  The very few exceptions would be for Grade animals registered prior to January, 2005.  Then you might see a “G” and that is fine.  Otherwise, any letter in the ID will cause a problem.
2. Make sure you don’t use A for American or P for Purebred anywhere in the ID.  If you have a purebred, make sure the number doesn’t start with an extra two digits reading “18”.  There is hardly any reason to even use the “18” any longer unless the doe was registered prior to January, 2005.
3. Once you verify that the ID is all numeric, make sure it matches the ADGA certificate.  Because so many records are done by hand, handwriting can cause incorrect interpretation of numbers. Data entry errors often include transposed numbers as well.

Once you’ve checked the doe, check her parents and make sure that they are entered if they are known!

1. Blanks as well as information that does not match the ADGA pedigree causes rejection for use in sire summaries.
2. Frequent errors include accidentally putting the sire ID for the dam ID and vice versa.

1. For breeders of Nigerians, use the AGS format if you have not registered the sires and/or dams with ADGA.  This will be a ‘20’ plus the AGS ID number.  The AGS ID number itself must be 7 digits at CDCB, so add leading zeroes (not a D!) for a nine digit number beginning with 20.

Now that the identifications are checked, let’s move on to a few other details that cause trouble.

1. Check to make sure your test type plan listed on your records matches the test type plan you have provided to ADGA on your renewal form.  Owner Samplers should be 40.
2. Make sure your herdcode is listed, and if you are a new herd, make sure you provide that to ADGA.
3. Check each freshening date you have provided to your tester.  If you register kids, the application should have the same birth date as the dam’s freshening date.  If not, it will cause the pedigree of the kid to be rejected at CDCB.
4. That freshen date should also have the day of the month, not just the month.  3/00/16 will cause an error in data transmission.
5. Check the birthdate listed for the doe.  It should match her certificate.

Almost done.  Now that identification and dates are known to be correct, there are a few common situations that continue to cause problems with awarding of *M, as well as data integrity.

1. Check that the dry dates for previous lactations were provided for the actual dry date and not accidentally forgotten causing an incorrect date to be used when a new lactation begins.
2. And last, check that previous completed lactations have a 305 record listed, especially if there is an extended record.

If you find that there are typos, errors or omissions, ask your tester or DHI or the performance program staff at ADGA to help you with those corrections at your next test.  It will create a smoother flow of information for everyone!